Rome, 12 December 2022
Prefect Antonino Bella, the Government’s Special Commissioner for Missing Persons, along with the FS Italiane Group, represented by General Roberto Massi, Chief Security & Risk Officer, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding that envisages a collaboration aimed at fostering initiatives to publicise and prevent the phenomenon of missing persons.
The areas surrounding stations and railway lines are particularly crucial for spreading the word about, searching for and finding people reported missing. This growing social phenomenon often involves people in a fragile state.
The Protocol foresees the implementation of communication campaigns aimed at disseminating information about the phenomenon along with the promotion and organisation of informative events such as seminars, conferences and workshops aimed at conveying awareness of the initiatives undertaken under the agreement. The measures envisaged in the Protocol also include the dissemination of information and photographs of missing persons on the FS Group’s institutional websites and vehicles, as well as the dissemination of useful information in places where there is a high public turnout to ensure great visibility and facilitate missing persons being found.
Amongst the FS Group’s initiatives to shine light on the phenomenon is the projection on Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa trains of a video titled Aiutiamoli a ritrovare la strada (Let’s Help Them Find Their Way), nominated for an Aretè award in the Responsible Communication category for the year 2022, as well as the dissemination in railway stations of a message on the importance of immediately reporting a person’s disappearance by calling Italy’s emergency number 112, in line with the awareness campaign #iltempoèprezioso (#timeisprecious).
Through the agreement with the Government’s Extraordinary Commissioner, the FS Group renews its commitment to the territories and communities orbiting around the stations, implementing concrete actions. The collaboration also envisages the creation of a work group composed of representatives appointed by the FS Group and the Commissioner, tasked with periodically checking the status of the implementation of the planned activities.
In thanking the Ferrovie dello Stato italiane, the Extraordinary Commissioner described the initiative as “of great help and with a strong social impact”, underlining that in 2021 in Italy, out of 19,269 reports of disappearances, 1,186 people were tracked down by rail, whilst in the first 10 months of 2022, 972 were traced.